04 July 2011

THE MUSIC AND PRESTON BLACK Alison Krauss and Union Station, BBC Radio2 In Concert, Mermaid Theatre, London, May 12, 2011

Since today's a day when we think about what it means to be American, I found it appropriate to commemorate the holiday with some Americana. Maybe a hundred years ago, music like this would've been on the nation's collective setlist for an evening of fireworks and pie. Today you'd still hear it, and music descended from the same seeds as bands like Union Station. But, depending on where you live, you'd also hear cumbia, salsa, hip-hop, jazz...

Everybody has their idea of what it means to be American. With political season coming up, we're going to hear over and over what our Founding Fathers had in mind. But I'm certain Thomas Jefferson had no idea what the United States would look like over 200 years after he wrote The Declaration of Independence. (Saw an article in Newsweek that suggested he wouldn't even receive a party nomination, let alone win a presidential election if he were alive today.)

That's why summer vacations go so well with Independence Day. Get the hell out there and see what we have, that people in other countries are still dying for. Step into a national park--YOUR park and breath deep the air your taxes help to maintain. Step onto a national battlefield and be grateful for the fight to shape the country and hold it together. Rub elbows with your new brothers and sisters, people our great-grandparents wouldn't have recognized as American. No matter what you do, pursue happiness like only we can.